Perfect Mother's Day in Oakville

Perfectly fitting that Mother Nature would bring us beautiful weather like this for Mother's Day. A bright, sunny day to enjoy family time and remind us how lucky we are.

My family headed to Coronation Park today to spend time at the lake, scramble on the path and hightail it to the playground.


There were lots of Oakville families out today and even the Canadian geese were celebrating Mother's Day with fuzzy little goslings!


Very shortly, momstown Oakville will be back at Coronation Park for splash pad playdates, messy Picasso's in the Park & Baby Book Club picnics. Can't wait for more nice weather!!

Hope all our momstown mamas had a fabulous sloppy kiss and maybe a homemade gift inspired by momstown Mother's Day arts & crafts today!

Mother's Day frame craft!

Brought to you by our friends at Dazzle Art, this simple yet precious craft lets mom put her favourite picture in a frame decorated by the kids!

Plastic frames are available at craft or dollar stores for minimal cost - your child can add the embellishments to make it their own! You can use:

• Foam cut into flowers
• Sequins
• Markers to decorate
• Tissue paper/glue to add dimension

My son was so proud of his creation and as his mom I couldn't wait to display it proudly!

Thanks to the folks at Dazzle Art for the inspiration! Did you know that they host birthday parties at their fantastic studio in Oakville? There are tons of options or you can personalize it with your own thoughts and ideas!

momstown Oakville's Crafty Kids playgroup meets at Dazzle monthly to enjoy a craft and free play time in their great creative space. Find out more with a free trial today!

What momstown mamas want for Mother's Day - $150 in free gifts!

This Mother’s Day ask for a momstown membership or better yet, give one to a friend. We promise this will be one of the best gifts you’ve ever received – you will find partners in motherhood, fabulous activities for your kids, community connections and a better mom in you.

From May 1-10th momstown is offering an extra bonus with a great “Gift with Purchase” package! When you buy a regular $45 annual membership to momstown you will also receive a package worth over $150 in special exclusive discounts from our partners!

Included are 12 awesome monetary discounts from places where you like to buy already! momstown has partnered with Simply Colors ($7.50), Mabels Labels ($5), Name Your Tune ($5), Whimsical Creations ($10), Gingerbread Monkeys ($10), Rocky Mountain Kid ($10), Suetables Jewelry ($10), Well.ca ($10), Lavish & Lime (15% off), Evymama ($10), Style Kid ($15), and Photobook Canada ($60).

A momstown membership is always a sweet deal but now we’ve made it even better and this promo is open to both renewals and new members. Visit your local chapter’s membership store to buy now.

The only tough part is which discount will you redeem first???

Click here to register and BUY a momstown Oakville membership.

WIN: Are you a Mother on Fire?

WIN WIN WIN!!!

What a fabulous personal development day planned for May 14th hosted by Mothers on Fire at The Oakville Club!

Mothers on Fire is proud to present a day long live event focused on helping moms discover and connect to their unique passions.

Live Your Passion will bring together several highly respected women in the field of personal development. The focus will be helping mothers find their inner passion and experience first hand what it’s like to live in alignment with that passion.

Check out the line up of speakers and inspiration you can expect from this day.

HOW TO WIN: momstown is heading to this event and looking forward to learning and enjoying a great day with inspiring women. momstown Oakville has a ticket to give away (value $125!!). To enter - just add a comment on this blog about why you'd like to go. We will then select a random winner (you can only enter once). We will select a winner on Thursday the 12th.

Details
Date: Saturday, May 14, 2011

Time: 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Fee: $ 125.00 for the entire day!
Includes: Continental Breakfast and Lunch

Give yourself a Mother’s Day gift you’ll never forget. Connect with other mothers and share the experience of self-discovery and personal fulfillment!!

momstown's Annual Easter Egg Hunt

Big giant thanks to our special momstown Easter helper, Stephanie, for organizing the 3rd annual Easter Egg Hunt for momstown Oakville with the Easter Bunny himself!



Together, the Easter team scattered plastic eggs all over the forest and field (even in the bushes! the older kids were thrilled!) for the kids to find. Each age group has a certain colour egg to look for to avoid any meltdowns or frustrations. At the end, the kids switched the eggs for goody bags to take home.


Thank-you Stephanie for bringing so much joy to our local families. Everyone has been raving about the fun moments they shared with their kids.


Our Oakville families had a fun time this season with momstown Crafty Kids making fuzzy bunnies and with our member Alexa winning tickets to the Centreville Eggstavaganza on Easter weekend.

Check out some of our momstown friends and their Easter celebrations:
momstown Milton: Indoor egg hunt at Kidz Korner
momstown Burlington: Raincheck Easter Party
momstown Hamilton: Dying Eggs, Eating & Playing

Happy Easter from momstown Oakville!

From our momstown family to yours ... Happy Easter!!!




May the eggs be filled with chocolate, the bonnets be frilly and the family time precious! Enjoy!!

Family road trips: fun or agony?

It's the long weekend - is your family heading into the car for a long drive? If it's not this weekend, it will be soon as summer usually brings lots of car travel for many families.

Combine the crazy cost of gas along with potentially cranky, contained kids and a roadtrip doesn't sound like much fun. Our family certainly doesn't avoid the pitfalls of family travel but we've figured out a few tricks to make our journeys a little less cumbersome (without the need for earplugs!).

1. Avoid the sugar rush.

It goes without saying but loading up kids on junk and them strapping them into a car is a disaster from the getgo. Pack healthy snacks for the trip and keep everyone hydrated.

2. Bring the portable potty.

This goes with hydration - you're gonna have to stop so make it easy. There just won't be a clean toliet available in time for a newly potty trained kid so bring it along. Another momstown mom gave me the tip to line it with a plastic bag - it helps manage the YUCK factor if someone needs to, well, poop.

3. Embrace the DVD player.

We fought this and said "kids need to learn to enjoy the drive", "they can listen to the radio" and "it's too much screen time". There's a time and place and a long car trip IS the place for a movie - keeps kids quiet, adults can converse, think and drive better with happy kids.

4. Adult in the back.

If you have space in a minivan this is a great tactic if you have small kids. An adult in the back helps with passing snacks, hold a baby's hand and play peekaboo.

5. Plan for diversions

If it's normally a 3 hour drive - plan for 5. This has been an adjustment for us as we used to like to hustle between Point A and Point B - but now we stop in random places for pee breaks, discovered new truck stops and playgrounds and I've nursed in many a parking lot. Plan for the delay and it can be fun - make a day out of traveling.

6. Tote the stuff!

Pack a "car bag" with crayons, new colouring books, favourite toys - anything to keep kids busy. We have a nifty lap table for car trips for the kids which is handy too.

7. Car games & Songs

We play loads of Eye Spy, Alphabet games and sing silly songs. It's kinda retro but I have great memories of these games from my childhood so we keep ourselves busy with these too.

8. Keep patient.

Toughest task when someone asks "are we there yet?" AGAIN. Just breathe and think about the destination, the fun you'll have and the glass of wine waiting for you!

Happy travels and happy long weekend!!!